


Far

by chimniichim



Category: Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Building Tension, Character Death, Depression, Eventual Romance, Fluff and Angst, Help, Loneliness, M/M, Minecraft, No Spoilers, Shipping, Slow Burn, Sort Of, Tags May Change, dream team, dreamnotfound
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-13
Updated: 2020-08-14
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:42:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25881526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chimniichim/pseuds/chimniichim
Summary: George didn't expect to find himself in a completely different world - he was happy with his current one.When he finds himself trapped in the world of Minecraft with tens of thousands of other people, there are two options: Beat the game or die.This is a dreamnotfound fanfic, but also a slow burn romance book. Their relationship will take longer to happen, but there will be more build-up and development in it.
Relationships: Clay | Dream/GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 110





	Far

**Author's Note:**

> Maybe slow updates? If I'm inspired to write from a good song or animatic, It's a lot quicker for me to write a chapter.
> 
> Updates may vary from a few days to a few weeks per update, but there won't be many chapters as each one is going to be LONG.
> 
> Comment any questions about this, I'll try my best to reply!

There was nothing much to remember, just logging into a game you love before having a piercing pain strike your head like lightning. Eyes rolling back into your head before your consciousness fades and your body becomes heavy, your head crashes into the keyboard of your computer.

Everything is heavy, everything is light.

George gasped in fear as his vision turned black, he stood up and attempted to push his chair back only to realise there was nothing there. 

"Am I dead?" The brunette whispered, his voice shaking as coldness crawled into his body. The cold only became more intense, George started shivering, hopelessly trying to protect himself from wind hitting his face like a whip.

Wind?

George desperately looked around, stumbling forwards before he tripped on something and hit the ground with a thud. He hissed with pain, closing his eyes tight. Suddenly he felt something on his face. George lifted a shaking hand to his face, only to touch what felt like a pair of glasses.

"What the.." he trailed off, pulling the glasses off only to be hit with familiarity. The clout goggles, the ones his own Minecraft skin wore.

A chill travelled down his spine as George looked up, noticing the hills of dirt around him, mostly suffocated in a blanket of dead leaves. There were ferns and grasses scattered across the forest floor. Dark trees loomed above him, and mounds of mossy stone below.

He struggled to breathe as he took in the blocky appearance of everything, all familiar. 

The trees shuddered around him, letting moonlight spill out from between the cubes of needle-like leaves. It was dark in the forest, and the more George panicked the more crowded and terrifying it seemed.

He attempted to assess the situation through his laboured breathing, stumbling over to the nearest tree and clutching it for dear life before lurching over and throwing up, a hot flush creeping up from his neck onto his face.

He was in the game. He was in Minecraft.

George noticed something flickering at the corner of his vision, it looked like a hologram of sorts, a pulsing circle. George gulped and reached over to it, flinching back when something else appeared. 

It was an inventory.

The brunette noticed a book in the inventory, unwillingly he reached forwards and was surprised to touch the leathery texture of a cover. The inventory slots seemed to act like invisible pockets, that would explain how item storage would work here. 

George pulled the book out, eyes scanning the title. It read 'A Guide to Beginners'. Something about that made George scoff, but he still gave in to his curiosity and opened the first page.

_ 'Welcome GeorgeNotFound, to the world of Minecraft! You must be confused as to why you are here, and not at your house playing the game through a screen.' _

_ 'You, plus tens of thousands of players that logged into Minecraft in the last few hours are all part of an experiment. This game has turned into your reality, and if you die here, you die in real life.' _

_ 'There is no respawn.' _

_ 'The death count is already above 1000, we respect all players who have lost their lives from this game, you can view a live death count if you double-tap the circle at the top left of your inventory.' _

_ 'There is only one way to escape this game, and free everyone else. Kill the Ender Dragon.'  _

_ 'The Wither is also a second option, but we don't recommend that! Dying to the wither is easy here, and we'd like to add that death by the wither effect is extremely painful. Wither effect survivors are forever crippled in some way..' _

_ 'So, GeorgeNotFound, how do you think you're going to survive here? Are you able to defeat an almost invincible dragon? We wish you luck, farewell!' _

George felt his vision blur, he threw the book away from him with a cry of defeat. Tears welled in his eyes as he started to shiver in terror, backing away from the tree he was leaning on. He spun on the spot and ran, ran as far away as possible.

He stumbled through the dense spruce forest, brushing past tall ferns and tripping on random stones that were scattered across the floor. Sobs wracked his body, he was confused and scared, not sure what to do. George suddenly halted to a stop, panting heavily. He felt disorientated. Visions of possible deaths flashing through his head, the looming red-tinted screen that showed a death message: death by a creeper, death by fall damage, death by drowning.

Panic caught up with his throat, he covered his mouth and tried to quiet down his sobs, the only sound that could be heard was the pitying rustle of leaves.

Then a hiss.

George only had enough time to gasp out in horror before he was hit with a powerful shockwave, sending him flying backwards until he collided into the ground. His vision was blurred, his ears were ringing, he clutched his head and drew in a shuddering breath before a pain shot up his leg. George blinked the blurriness away desperately and stared at the crater the creeper had created, before looking down at his left leg and gasping in fear; it was heavily bleeding and burnt.

His survival instincts crept in, the urge to get away from the forest sent panic into determination. He unsteadily stood up and desperately limped away from the destroyed area, wildly looking around for a water source to cool his seared skin.

Tiredness and hunger were creeping upon him, George ignored it, but ignoring could only get you so far. 

After what felt like hours of walking he started to get a sick feeling, his throat was parched of water and his stomach was crying out for food. His limbs started to feel like logs, dragging his legs across a never-ending forest. It wasn't sunrise yet, the forest was still shrouded in darkness.

George started to struggle walking, his health bar was stuck on 3 hearts ever since he got caught in the creepers explosion, and his hunger bar was on a meagre 2 and a half. He started to feel dizzy and unbalanced, almost toppling over now and then. His left leg was numb with pain.

George knew he was dying, the game was on hardcore mode, dying of starvation was a big possibility for him unless he got hit by a zombie or shot by a skeleton. He could even fall into a cave and die from fall damage.

A sudden lurching feeling enveloped his body as he unexpectedly slipped off a ledge of dirt, all he could do was close his eyes and accept death. However, death wasn't ready to take him yet. Out of luck, he hit water instead of stone, a gasp escaping his lips from the shock of coolness and relief.

The brunette let out a shaky laugh, submerging himself in the pool of water he had stumbled into. George sat back up and cupped some water in his hands, bringing it to his lips and drinking, his throat being relieved of the itching dryness called dehydration. He was surprised to see that his hunger had gone up by 1 slot, also gaining a single heart. 

His relief was short-lived, for a throaty growl resounded through the trees. George stilled, rooted to the floor of the pool he was in. The growl got louder and louder, the zombie must have noticed him.

The only escape route was to climb back up the ledge and run for it, dawn was approaching so the forest was slowly becoming lighter. George bit his lip, slowly standing up so he wouldn't disturb the water. Every water droplet falling off him and hitting the water felt like bombs, starting to set George off the edge.

The second the dingy green arm of a zombie waved into view George turned his thoughts into actions, without a second thought he pushed himself out of the water, only receiving a weak hit from the zombie, although that took 3 hearts to 1.

With a mind clouded with panic, he sprinted towards the amber glow of a low rising run. Letting his legs carry him until they could no longer run, unsteadily walking on. He was desperate food and daylight. After a few more torturous minutes of walking, the dirt underneath his feet turned into golden sand, and soon a clear blue sea calmly lay before his eyes.

George sighed loudly, his legs buckling underneath him as he watched the sunrise over the ocean, dying the sky with pink and orange hues. 

As George sat on the sandy beach he decided to have a look at the possible menu options, eyes widening as he noticed the chat option. George immediately clicked on the chat option, expecting to see tons of messages from people all over the world. Instead what he saw filled him with dread.

_ SmiteStrike9203 was shot by skeleton _

_ Seesaww was slain by R3ZOR _

_ Technoblade has formed an alliance with WilburSoot! _

_ DannyYT has made the advancement [Stone Age] _

George felt his blood run cold, realising that players still had the ability to kill others in the game. He felt a sudden hatred towards the people that trapped everyone in Minecraft, allowing murder and death - although not much had changed from the real world.

Another thing that caught his eye was Technoblade allying with Wilbur, it was a relief to see some familiar names. Although that sent a sudden thought into his head.

Is Dream here?

Georges's eyes widened, he searched the menu for an option he hoped was there, and thankfully it was. The player status bar, an option to search up a username and find out their status, if they were alive or dead, how low their health and hunger was, all their achievements.

Part of George hoped that Dream wouldn't come up, that he hadn't had the misfortune to log in and be sucked into the game. The other part of him longed to see him, longed for his voice. George shook his head and waited for names to appear, and at the very top was the exact one he was looking for.

With bated breath he tapped on the name, his entire body relaxed with relief at the sight of the 'alive' tag next to his name.

George knew he needed food, but quickly scrolled down his achievements, he had got a lot further than George already. George noticed a slightly recent announcement.

_ Dream has formed an alliance with Sapnap and BadBoyHalo _

George smiled, although in his heart and head he longed for the company of his friends. He felt a desperate urge to find them, but currently, his hunger was too low for him to do anything. His only hope would be to craft a boat and sail across the sea and hope to find someone he knew.

With a deep sigh, he stood up and limped over to the nearest tree, clenching his fists and shutting his eyes tight before letting his fist connect with the tree, hissing out in pain.

It was long and torturous to break the entire tree into logs, although he ended up getting 5. Quickly, he opened his inventory and turned all 5 logs into spruce planks, then created a crafting table. He wiped his forehead, crafting was a lot of tiring than he expected, although he knew he had to keep going.

Something in his head was telling him that stopping could cost him his life.

George placed two planks on the crafting table and watched in wonder as they merged and became sticks. after that he created a wooden pickaxe and sword, frowning at the easily breakable items. However, they were the only things that could protect him from mobs and gain better materials.

George felt a wave of weakness wash over him, he glanced at his hunger bar and felt his breath get caught in his throat. All he had was half a hunger slot, more movement could kill him.

"How did I not realise?" George muttered, although he felt heat rush over his face as more panic settled it, "Why can't I just catch a break from this hell?"

"Hey, are you alright?" said a quiet voice behind him, George jumped and back away, turning around to face the stranger who had talked to him. It looked light a young boy, about 14 by the looks of it. 

"Who are-" George was cut off when he suddenly lurched forwards in pain, clutching his stomach with his eyes wide. 

"W-what- no!" George cried out, staring at his empty hunger bar and half-heart, he was dead. He was going to die.

George felt his vision blur, barely acknowledging the cool, metal item that had been placed in his hand. He shut his eyes tight and prepared for death, only for his eyes to fly open at the sound of a totem of undying activating.

"Quick, eat this!" gasped out the boy in front of him, pressing a small loaf of bread again his mouth, George willingly took a large bite out of it, then another, feeling his hunger ebb away. Once he was strong enough to sit up he ate two more loaves of bread that the boy gave him, until his hunger was full, along with his hearts.

After a few minutes of silence, George decided to speak up, "Thank you." He smiled at the boy who was watching the sea, the boy turned to him and smiled back.

George found out the boy was called Renn, and his username 'MortalFlight2005', he was born in Italy but grew up in Australia. He said that he had spawned in during daylight in the middle of a village, which gave him full access to food and beds. 

"So how'd you get the totem?" George asked with his eyebrows furrowed, regretting the question when Renn's expression went from calm to upset.

"My old teammates joined quite a few days before I spawned in, in-game of course. They managed to get full iron armour and weapons, so they decided to raid a woodland mansion. They let me team up with them, but I was asleep when they were ambushed and killed by a team of murderers." Renn sighed, staring down at the floor, "One of my teammates had a spare totem, so they gave it to me."

George looked sadly at the boy, he was too young to be going through this, "I'm grateful for you letting me use it, but why me? You should have kept it! I've been useless so far anyway."

Renn stared at George," I can't let someone die before my eyes."

As the day passed George felt himself start to care for the boy, he felt like a little brother to him. Renn shared the cobblestone he had mined and George gave him the rest of the planks he had before going to mine more with a stone axe he had made, making breaking logs a lot less painful.

"George, I have beds with me!" Renn smiled to the older boy as he pulled two beds out of his inventory, both with the yellow dyed duvet you'd get from a plains village.

George smiled, relieved he had found a travelling companion - and a friend. Although Dream was still in his mind, which made the smile falter.

He climbed into his bed and pulled the covers over, only taking a few seconds for him to be pulled into sleep, it wasn't natural to fall asleep that fast but it was how the game worked. 

-

A week had passed, George and Renn were now mostly full iron except one was wearing leather boots from a lack of the resource - that was Renn, but George didn't think lack of foot protection would make a difference. They had stacks of cobble and planks, along with a decent amount of cooked meat and coal, and both were getting along like brothers.

George was lucky enough to find diamonds in a cave, although he almost died mining them and only got enough for a sword. Renn was left with an iron sword, but he was happy nonetheless.

George found himself keeping track of what Dream was doing daily, checking that his health and hunger were high, checking that he and his friends were still alive. George smiled at the "Cover me in Diamonds" achievement Dream has received 10 minutes ago, relieved that he was doing well.

He had found himself wondering about what Dream had felt when the message saying "GeorgeNotFound has formed an alliance with MortalFlight2005" appeared. He wondered if he felt happy for him, or jealous - maybe he didn't even see the message.

There was a chance that Dream didn't even know he was in the game and hadn't bothered checking if he was. The thought dampened Georges mood for the rest of that day.

Another day had passed. George was sitting on the edge of a boat, motioning at Renn to climb in. They had decided they were going to try and find a desert biome or maybe another village, both were useful for getting to the nether. Travelling by sea was the fastest and safest option for them, meaning there were no mobs to attack them - perhaps drowned, but they were slow.

Travelling by sea was quick, but four days had passed without them finding what they were looking for. George was sick of the sea by now, he hated staring down at the deep abyss of water, there was no comfort in it.

But then, something happened.

"Is it just me or is the boat a bit wobbly?" Renn asked, clutching the sides of the boat. George nodded, then suddenly let out a scream of fear as the boat suddenly jolted, that made Renn burst into laughter.

"You gotta stop screaming like that George, it's hilariou-" Renn stopped talking when they both heard a loud, splintering crack. Suddenly both of them were plunged into the water. George held his breath as he struggled against a force that was trying to pull him down. One glance at the columns of bubbles told him that they were caught in an underwater ravine, and there were magma cubes at the bottom. 

George knew the only option was to swim to the left or right instead of upwards, battling against the strong currents. His lungs felt like they were about to burst: he needed oxygen urgently. Two more powerful kicks got him out of the bubble columns and above the surface of the water. 

He took in multiple deep breaths, lungfuls of air that soothed him. After a few more seconds he turned around to look for Renn. 

He wasn't there.

George's eyes widened in fear as he desperately looked around, calling his name. There was no response. He took a deep breath before pushing himself underwater, staying away from the bubble columns but still desperately looking around for the kid. Sudden movement underwater caught his eye, it was Renn. Renn was at the bottom of the ravine, trying his best to swim up to him.

George gave him a relieved smile, although it dropped when he noticed Renn's terrified expression.

"What?" George said, but only bubbles came out of his mouth. That's when Renn flinched horribly, then again, and again.

"No-" George whispered, again no sound coming out. He was about to help before he realised his own oxygen level was dangerously low. George glanced at Renn, who looked up at him, panicked expression turning into a sad smile.

'Go.' Renn mouthed.

So George swam up to the surface of the water, his breathing rapid and uneven. Shaking.

He can't be-

_ MortalFlight2005 drowned _

"No." George choked out, an unsteady sob leaving his mouth.

George felt numb, he could barely keep himself afloat. He watched as Renn's items floated up next to him, being pulled into his inventory with a force he couldn't see.

George felt himself grow cold as he assessed his items; there was a second totem of undying.

Renn had kept it a secret. He hadn't used it. 

Renn let himself die, willingly.

George let out a cry of defeat, hands over his eyes, his legs were feebly kicking to keep him afloat. Something suddenly hit him from underwater, George pulled his diamond sword out from behind his back without even thinking it through, stabbing it right through the heart of the drowned.

It died immediately, leaving behind a half-used trident.

George stared at it. Then he grabbed it and swam away. He tried to get as far away from the place as possible, dragging himself onto a muddy bank he had found. Not caring.

Then he lay there, still on the mud. Eyes blank with grief, and a face etched with sorrow.

Then he decided on something. He would try and beat the game, even if he died in the process.

His life wasn't worth much anyway.

-

"Dude just give me a fucking steak, I'm low on hun-"

"Language."

"Shut up Bad."

Dream chuckled at his friends, only to lunge at Sapnap and forcefully take the steak he was holding, quickly stuffing it into his mouth.

"What the hell-"

"Language!" 

Sapnap glared at Bad, before breaking into laughter as well, soon all of them were bent over and clutching their ribs.

"You guys are so dumb." Dream cackled, wiping fake tears from his eyes, Sapnap playfully punched his shoulder, the thorns on his diamond chestplate making Sapnap jump back with a yelp.

Dream made his way back to the little cabin they were staying in, sitting on his bed and opening the chat.

"Stalking George again?" Sapnap smirked, leaning again the wall. Dream rolled his eyes, shaking his head.

"Just checking he's ok." Dream smiled, although he felt a lump form at the back of his throat. Sapnap nodded and walked out of the cabin to help Bad with whatever he was doing, leaving Dream alone.

Dream lifted his mask off his face, scanning for any recent achievements from George. There was nothing new. Dream wondered what Georges teammate was like, George didn't like straying from his friends so they must have been a nice person.

Dream suddenly noticed an oxygen bar appear next to Georges name, the bubbles going down one by one. Normally things like this wouldn't worry him, but there was always a chance he was suffocating to death. 

Dream shuddered at the thought.

Worry crept up his throat as the bubbles got dangerously low, getting as low as 1 bubble until they started rising again. Dream was confused, he didn't like how George was low on oxygen for so long.

What had happened?

That's when a new death appeared on the chat, with a username he recognised, although he didn't know the person.

_ MortalFlight2005 drowned _

Dream felt a feeling of dread settle in the pit of his stomach because, on stats, this was Georges teammate. On stats, this was a 14-year-old boy. Dream felt nervous, he had a sudden urge to go out and look for George. Was he okay? How did it even happen?

Dream thought back to when he saw that George had got the achievement for using a totem of undying, whatever situation he was in back then terrified him; his best friend had cheated death.

He had concluded that George must have had an unlucky start, Dream got the message that he had joined in the middle of the night, and spawning in the night, all alone, was the largest cause of death in this world. Dream could tell George hadn't been doing well from the lack of achievements and dangerously low health and hunger - he had assumed that George almost died to hunger before using the totem.

George had only started getting achievements after he teamed with his now-dead teammate, the guy must have either been a powerful person or was just lucky enough to team with strong people beforehand.

Dream knew he had to stop checking how George was every now and then, but he was so scared for him. His best friend was alone now, and probably struggling with grief or guilt.

The noise of a door opening startled Dream out of his thoughts, he looked up to see a grim-looking Sapnap and Bad.

"Did you see what happened to Georges teammate?" Sapnap asked with a frown, Dream nodded slowly.

"I hope he's ok." Bad sighed, his eyes dim with worry for his friend. All three of them had kept an eye on George ever since he had nearly died on his first night. Losing a teammate of almost 2 weeks sounded emotionally crushing.

"We need to find him," Sapnap spoke up, Dream could tell Sapnap was struggling with the absence of George as much as him, they were all best friends after all.

"No, we need to beat the game." Dream said firmly, as much as he hated speaking those words. He was a powerful player and was proving to be just as powerful in this real-life Minecraft. He knew that he couldn't potentially die looking for George, thousands of people needed him alive.

But deep inside he desperately wanted to find his friend. He would never admit that aloud though.

Sapnap stiffly nodded at Dreams words, although Dream could tell he didn't agree with him. Bad also nodded but quickly walked out of the cabin to gather resources, pulling his hood up in an attempt to hide his expression.

Dream sighed and lay down on his bed, he suddenly felt very tired.

"I'll find you, George, please don't give up on me." 

-

The Nether was a scary place. Mounds of disgusting netherrack and a sea of lava below, threateningly churning its thick, scalding liquid.

Falling into the lava would be agonizing, painful, and slower than anyone would like.

George had climbed through his nether portal a week after Dream, now in full diamond and hoping to gain full netherite on the dangerous trek through the deepest depths of the nether. he had filled his entire inventory with beds, except a few slots for food, a pickaxe, a sword and a shield in his offhand.

It had taken almost a month to get this far, but time meant nothing to George.

George's eyes had dulled of light, and he had barely smiled since...

Renn.

George flinched at the thought of his dead teammate, soon a shudder passed down his body. He hated it. He hated how he had put his own life before a young teenager, a teenager who was struggling to cope with the loss of his past teammates.

George hated how he didn't realise Renn was getting depressed, losing the will to live.

George let him drown. It was his fault. His fault for being useless.

His fault.

The brunette shook his head from the thoughts shrouding his head. He looked exhausted from nightmares he was getting every single time he fell asleep, Renn's death haunting him.

Every night it was the same scene. The kid's ghostly pale figure, pointing at him. Accusing him. 

"IT WASN'T ME!" George screamed in defeat, only for his hands to lay limply by his side as he stared across the hell they called "The Nether". George shook his head and looked around for a cave, not wanting to be in direct view of a Ghast or a Piglin. Both were out to kill him, there was no mercy with these mobs.

The second he found a cave he started diagonally digging down, estimating where level 15 would be.

George had been destroying the underground of the nether for hours, not caring about how each explosion was still hitting him. He was low on health again but allowed himself to explode one more bed which brought him all the way down to half a heart. George sighed and finally ate a steak to refill his health.

It had been like this for a while now, George allowing himself to almost die only to quickly save himself, it wasn't out of exhilaration from the feeling, it had- no reason.

He gritted his teeth and continued the painfully long search for ancient debris. So far he had enough for two items, but George wouldn't stop until he reached netherite everything.

Although his hope was ebbing away, it had been replaced with a terrifying determination to keep going. To reach the end.

Another explosion. Another. Another.

_ Dream has reached the goal [Postmortal] _

George stopped what he was doing to stare at the message that had appeared in chat, suddenly feeling light-headed.

"Dream..." George murmured, the familiar name sounded strange to speak. He had been so distracted lately he had almost forgotten that his best friend was in the same world as him.

"Dream," George repeated, for some reason his eyes welled up with tears. He quickly brushed them away, trying to ignore the fear for his friend's life. The weeks of loneliness he had endured had led him to forget things, such as life before he was trapped in this world. He sadly smiled when he remembered the time's Dream had desperately tried to get him to say "I love you". 

George stared ahead for a few seconds before shaking his head furiously, he was getting distracted again.

-

It took George a week to gain full netherite armour and weapons, he was now prepared to face the fortress. Although, he hated to admit that the thought of a nether fortress scared him.

"Fear is for the weak," George muttered, only half believing what he had said.

George didn't expect the search for a fortress to be so painfully long, he was currently sat under a warped stem tree, missing the clean, cool air of the overworld. Down in the Nether, everything was hot, the air sometimes burnt his throat when he inhaled, leaving him coughing and forcing him to drink the little amount of water he could bring with him.

Even with an ender chest filled with water bottles (the blaze powder from a stray blaze that had drifted into the wastes), the months' long journey had quickly turned 27 into 3. He was lucky he was in Minecraft for once, Dehydration wasn't supposed to exist in the game but for some reason, this one was an excuse, although you didn't need to drink much water.

Altogether, nearly 2 months had passed since he had been swept into the game, George was now a lot stronger than he was a month ago - his armour looked battered and worn down from fighting, but he had become excellent at the art of stealth and killing mobs.

He was fully enchanted, and he looked powerful. Few players had gone into the Nether and survived long enough to gain full netherite.

George was lost in thought as he walked across the desolate Nether biome - except the random noises from an Enderman lurking nearby. He didn't realise the ledge he was on.

"Wh-" George gasped before letting out a shout of fear as he plummeted down, desperately fumbling for the single fire resistance potion he had got from bartering with Piglins. George managed to grab it by the tip of his fingers before popping the lid off and downing the entire thing, before being plunged into a comfortably warm pit of lava.

The potion would only last 3 minutes, so George knew he had to swim fast.

Although he was terrified for his life and the thought of dying to lava, he bravely swam across the sea of the boiling liquid that he was momentarily safe from. George looked around desperately, letting out a gasp of shock as he noticed the deep crimson colour of a familiar structure.

He only had one minute to swim to it, his last resort would be to use a pearl but he wasn't keen on using one up. George tried his best to swim faster but there was no way he could make it on time.

The potion only had 10 seconds left.

George knew he didn't have enough time to think, so with a frown he took out the pearl and threw it as hard as he could at the top of the nether fortress, praying that it didn't miss.

The potion only had 3 seconds left.

2

George wondered if the pearl was even going to land in time.

1-

_ Whoosh. _

George felt a suffocating sensation envelope his body, he couldn't breathe as he felt his body fly through the air. Suddenly he hit the ground with a thud, gasping for air only to start choking on the burning air of the nether.

_ GeorgeNotFound has made the advancement [A Terrible Fortress] _

George silently cheered himself for being the first person to discover it, although he knew he had to travel fast, Wither Skeletons were no joke.

_ Dream has made the advancement [A Terrible Fortress] _

_ Sapnap has made the advancement [A Terrible Fortress] _

_ BadBoyHalo has made the advancement [A Terrible Fortress] _

"What?" George said aloud, looking around just in case they were in the same one. He had a feeling that was possible. George sprinted into the Nether Fortress, he had no care for the loot, he just needed a blaze spawner.

George ran deeper into the fortress, hoping to find a stray blaze to save him the effort of killing a lot at the same time. Luck wasn't on his side, no matter where he went there wasn't a single blaze or spawner room in sight. George chewed his lip in annoyance before he heard movement near him. His heart rate increased as he stealthily walked over to the spawner, quickly eating a cooked porkchop to completely heal him before running into the spawner room and attacking the first blaze in sight.

The blaze took only 3 hits before it gave in to death and let George steal the rod, the brunette smiled triumphantly.

_ GeorgeNotFound has made the advancement [Into Fire] _

George didn't expect to be suddenly hit with a ball of flames, crying out in shock as it collided with his chestplate, sending his ablaze momentarily. After that painful experience, George was a lot more careful when killing the blazes, lighting up the spawner at certain points so his health could regenerate. After what felt like hours of fighting and being on fire, George had finally gathered enough rods to be safe. He was a bit shaky and bruised, but he was relieved.

George turned around and headed back down the passageway, picking up some netherwart just in case he'd need it for future potions. 

He trudged up the stairs of the Fortress, onto the roof, glad he had brought obsidian with him so he didn't have to take another month to walk back.

George quickly made the portal, really not in the mood for more mobs to come up and attempt to kill him. he had just finished lighting the portal with flint and steel before he realised he had dropped a blaze rod somewhere.

He knew that he had more than enough, but George had an urge to retrieve the one he had dropped - just as a precaution.

With a sigh, George turned around and made his way back into the fortress, looking around for the firey rod on the floor somewhere. He sighed in defeat after searching for a few more minutes, assuming it had despawned before he saw a faint glow on the floor.

"Phew," George whispered as he crept forwards and picked the blaze rod up, quickly chucking it into his inventory. He stood up straight again and turned around, walking back to the portal. Just as he walked onto the top of the fortress he heard voices.

George felt his entire body freeze, heartbeat suddenly increasing.

He knew exactly who those people were.

There were only three possible people who were also in a fortress. The three people who had walked in a few seconds after him.

George felt panic clutch his body. They couldn't see him. George was scared of what their reactions would be. They could have developed a hatred for him. They could be disgusted at him for letting his teammate die. They...

George couldn't think any more, he could only crouch and hide.

He didn't want to admit how desperate he was to walk up, to hug them, to see their faces and smiles again.

George hadn't heard a human voice in a month unless his own counted. He longed to hear them again.

"Guys, why's there a portal here?" George heard the voice of Sapnap curiously ask, he sounded the same as he had the last time they talked, George was relieved.

"I dunno, maybe someone managed to portal right into here." said a voice that could only belong to Bad, George felt himself tear up, he was struggling not to cry.

"If that happened we would have seen the advancement in chat."

George's eyes widened, it was him.

"Dream..." George whispered, but he knew he couldn't dare speak louder, he couldn't be seen in his pathetic state.

"We might as well use it," Sapnap stated, walking towards it only to be pulled back by Dream.

"No, it could be a trap." Dream frowned, "We don't know what the people in charge of this could be thinking, just leave it, we'll just have to walk all the way back to our own."

"You know, it could be Geor-" Bad was cut off by a single word from Dream.

"No."

George felt his heart sink in his chest. He felt his shoulders sag as he drew his knees to his chest. Dream must hate him.

"Let's just go." Dream sighed, he sounded upset for some reason. George watched as they walked away, their figures slowly fading into the dense fog of the nether. George sighed aloud, not of relief.

He was so close to them. He let them leave.

George stood up, turned and walked to the portal. He stared at it, the purple swirls of the portal dancing around. Taunting him. He frowned and was about to step in before he heard a voice again.

"Sapnap you're such an idiot, if they despawn we'll have to kill all those blazes again!" Dreams voice floated from the fog, becoming louder.

"I put them in a chest, they won't despawn."

"Who puts blaze rods in a che-"

George stared at Dream.

Dream stared at George.

"What is it?" said Sapnap as he appeared next to Dream, the both of them also in full netherite gear except Dreams helmet, instead he wore a mask.

Part of George felt bitter for not being able to see his face, even after months of separation.

"Who are you?" Asked dream.

George stiffened, realising his netherite helmet was probably obscuring the rest of his face. But Dream must have known it was him, he was the only other person who could be in the fortress, unless Dream didn't pay attention to the advancement.

"What's going on?" Asked Bad, who had just walked over to them after noticing the delay.

George looked around desperately, only for Dream to take his sword out from behind his back. 

"You have no reason to run away. If you don't hurt us, we won't hurt you." Dream spoke slowly, George tried to calm himself from shaking too hard, he couldn't let them notice. Instead he starting backing into the portal, frowning. His friends didn't even know it was him, it was technically perfect for him - he didn't want to be seen in the first place.

"The second you step into that portal, we'll go after you and chase you down." Dream scowled, pointing his sword at him.

"Dream what the hell." Sapnap spoke up, "Just let him go, there's no point wasting our time running after him." 

"I- I'll grab the blaze rods you left behind." Bad quickly murmured, running back into the fortress, glancing back only once.

Dream and Sapnap stared at George, curious to what he would do next. George was dumbfounded at Dreams behaviour, he didn't understand why he wouldn't let him go as he didn't recognise him.

A minute passed by. It was silent except the unsettling ambience of the nether.

"Got them!" Exclaimed a voice, George watched as Dream and Sapnap turned around for a second to look at Bad, who was holding a bunch of blaze rods.

George turned towards the portal, giving them once last glance before stepping in, feeling a sickening feeling crush him as he was teleported from the nether to the overworld. The second he stumbled into the grassy plains biome, and felt coolness flood over him, he ran.

His legs carried him through the birch forest, the trees tall and thin. He didn't dare look back, he couldn't, he co-

_ Thud. _

George fell to the floor with a cry of pain, an arrow sunk deep into his leg. He attempted to stand up but was in too much agony to move. George violently jolted as the pain clouded over his eyes, blurring his vision.

Whatever hit him was no normal arrow.

When George finally opened his eyes he noticed with swaying vision that his health had dropped to 2 hearts. He hadn't been that low in a month, he hadn't allowed himself to get that low.

"1 more hit from that arrow could probably kill you," Dream said in a low voice, "I don't want to kill you, by the way, so don't move a muscle."

George closed his eyes, this wasn't going the way he wanted at all. By the sounds of it Sapnap and Bad hadn't caught up yet, it was just him and Dream.

"Fine," George sighed, "You might as well kill me then." Then George stood up, stumbling forwards, he was disorientated. When George looked back at Dream, his bow was aimed directly at his head, but Dream didn't release the arrow.

"Who are you?" Dream asked, voice quieter than usual.

"I think you already know that, Dream," George spoke in a wobbly tone, knowing that Dream could easily recognise his voice by now, he was speaking clearly.

George looked away, he was shaking, trying his best to stay calm. He turned away, opening his inventory and sighing loudly.

"Wait, don't-" Dream tried to shout but George had already thrown the pearl, landing ungracefully in a denser part of the birch forest. He only managed to limp a few steps before he heard the ' _ vwoosh _ ' of a pearl, and someone collided into him.

George and Dream thudded onto the ground, Dreams arms tightly secured around him so he couldn't move. George felt the wind rustle his hair, and with horrible realisation, he noticed that his helmet had fallen off in the collision.

His glasses were askew, there was no way Dream wouldn't recognise him now.

George looked up at Dream who had him pinned down, the masked man facing him. George held his breath as the mask slipped off Dreams face, slowly sighing out when he took in the appearance of his best friend. He looked almost exactly how George had pictured him, freckly skin, ashy blonde hair, and his eyes...

His eyes were wide open with shock, and even though George couldn't see the green colour of them he longed to, they were still beautiful.

But George wouldn't admit that aloud.

"George..." Dream gasped, not speaking another word as he pulled George into a tight hug, "I thought I'd never find you."

"I'm- I'm here Dream..." George trailed off, his bottom lip wobbling as he tried not to break into tears. He felt desperate to tell Dream everything, about how lonely he was, about how much he missed him, about how painful it was. But George couldn't muster up the courage.

His tiredness was starting to catch up with him, and his health was dangerously low due to the additional damage from pearling. He felt his body start to grow heavy.

"George?" Dream asked worriedly, only to cry out his name as his vision went black and he collapsed onto the floor.

-

"Dream?" Shouted a voice, Dream looked up to see Sapnap and Bad sprinting over to him. They stopped when they noticed what was going on.

"Is that..." Sapnap trailed off, staring at the unconscious body of George, Dream noticed his eyes starting to glisten with tears, "Is he okay?"

Dream frowned and looked back down at George, he was alive - just about. The potion of instant damage must have affected his health greatly, Dream felt guilt churn in his stomach. 

"We need a regen potion," Dream sighed, "Do you have the items for one?" He asked Sapnap and Bad, who both started checking their inventories.

"I have 7 ghast tears, and I collected a load of netherrack," Bad said as he held up the items, Sapnap pointed out he also had a water bottle on him. Dream was quick to place his brewing stand and concoct the potion, turning it into a splash potion and taking no time throwing it onto George. Dream swiftly went onto stats, watching his hearts slowly go up. Georges hunger bar was down to 2, they'd have to give him food immediately after he woke up.

After a couple more potions splashed over him, George finally woke up. With a groan, he opened his eyes and tried to sit up, only for him to clutch his head and fall back down again.

"George, drink this." Dream murmured, pressing a water bottle against his dry and chapped lips. George didn't hesitate to open his mouth and gulp the water down, taking in lungfuls of air after finishing it in one go.

Bad passed a steak to George, who gladly devoured the entire thing, he closed his eyes after finishing it and let out a sigh.

"Feeling better?" Dream asked, and George nodded before staring down at the ground. He would've asked him what was wrong, but Dream could tell George didn't walk to talk. He'd been through a lot.

After hours of resting and watching the day go by, Bad jumped up and turned to them.

"I know we just got back from the nether, but we should find shelter," Bad said, motioning at the sun that was gradually setting. Dream and Sapnap nodded tiredly, George was asleep with a makeshift wool bandage around his leg, he was too exhausted to respond.

"I was thinking," Bad continued slowly, "Maybe we could walk to Techno's base and stay there for a bit."

"You're only saying that because Zak and Vincent are there," Dream replied in a monotone voice, "And he has a 10 person team, one of them might have it out for us."

"You can't act suspicious of everyone, Dream," Sapnap pointed out in a quiet voice, "You scare everyone who wants to team with us away."

Dream sighed loudly, sitting up and scratching the back of his neck, "Fine, we'll go to Techno's base for a bit. It's quite a walk away so we'll need a lot of food."

George opened his eyes at that, wondering how Dream, Sapnap and Bad had been to Techno's base. He was only aware of a few people Techno had teamed with, that being Wilbur, Finn, Zak and Vincent. It was an odd combination of people, George just assumed that they were separate teams then joined up - a lot of people had done that for power advantage.

"Oh, you're awake George." Sapnap smiled at him, George yawned and sat up. He managed a tired smile before pulling a pork chop out of his inventory and slowly eating it. 

"Wrong time to wake up, George," Dream laughed, "We're going to sleep soon."

George shrugged, rubbing his eyes before sitting upright. He watched as the others opened up their inventories and pulled beds out, George noticed that all of them were coloured green or turquoise like the ones you would find in a desert village. He smiled, wondering if Dream had gone to a desert on purpose - he preferred deserts when he would do a speedrun anyway.

"So, when are we going to Techno's?" George asked through a yawn, watching his friends climb into the beds they had placed.

"We'll head off tomorrow," Dream replied, "It's quite a way from where we are, but we could either go back through the Nether and travel there, or walk through the overworld."

George slowly nodded, glad they were taking the easier alternative - although he wondered how much quicker the Nether alternative would be.

"The overworld journey would be about three times longer than the Nether," Bad added in like he had read Georges thoughts. George's eyes widened with surprise. Although he never wanted to go back into the Nether again, it was starting to sound like the better option. Before George could say another word Sapnap spoke up.

"Well, we should be going to sleep," Sapnap mumbled before collapsing back on his bed and closing his eyes, Dream and Bad nodded as they pulled their duvets over them. George sighed quietly, laying back in his bed but not attempting to fall asleep. In fact, the longer he lay down the more awake he became. Ten minutes later he finally decided to climb out of his bed, even if it was starting to get quite dark.

George looked around, realising there were no torches in sight. For the next few minutes, he walked about and dotted torches round the area. Once he was done with his work he sat down on the grassy floor of the birch forest, opening the menu and looking aimlessly for something to tap on.

Something caught his eye. George frowned; he had been avoiding tapping on that since he started. However, he felt something lure him, and soon he had tapped on the button. The hologram appeared in blinding brightness, George had to squint until his eyes adjusted to the light.

_ DEATH COUNT: 14008 _

_ Most Recent deaths: _

_ Ninja4998 _

_ xLucyLilyx _

_ Whatapansexual _

George had to stop looking. He exited the screen and closed his eyes, feeling panicked all of a sudden. He was scared, so many people here had lost their lives to the game. Even YouTubers or Twitch streamers he knew like Ponk, Callahan, Purpled, all dead.

Something about their deaths in particular greatly upset him, maybe because he had talked to all of them at least once in his life.

George sighed again, standing up and pulling his sword out from his inventory, figuring fighting mobs would probably take his mind off things. George walked away from where his friends had set up a temporary camp and headed off towards the sparser part of the forest, checking the durability of his shield just in case it was to break whilst he defended any attacks he would receive.

George stopped to listen after walking for a considerable amount of time, he thought he had heard the creaking bones of a skeleton. He was about to keep walking until he felt a rush of air pass by his ear, he let out a gasp of shock.

He stared around, pulling his shield up warily whilst he scanned the area. He was about to give up until he saw a flash of white behind a tree. George edged towards the tree, waiting to hear the sound of a bow drawing back. The second he heard the creaking of a string being stretched he jumped forwards and struck the skeleton, it rattled its bones and aimed the arrow directly at the centre of his forehead.

George stabbed the sword through the skeleton's bones, slashing it to the side so it collapsed onto the floor and dissolved into a single bone, leaving two arrows as a parting gift.

George placed the bone and arrows in his inventory before searching for more mobs to kill, hoping to get plenty of loot from his enchanted sword.

An hour had passed and George had gained a decent amount of bones, rotten flesh, string and more drops that had been gained from killing the hostile creatures that emerged in darkness. It was a lot simpler defeating Overworld mobs than the ones that lived in the Nether.

George had managed to tire himself out, as he headed back to the camp he was deep in thought. Looking at the death count had brought back memories he thought he had forgotten. When he had first joined the game - he had nearly died back then. He remembered how confused and scared he was, he remembered how  _ weak  _ he was back then.

George let out a dry laugh, he had changed immensely. Now he was in full enchanted netherite gear, he had travelled the nether and defeated things he never thought he would have defeated back at the start.

Back at the start he was weak and barely able to survive by himself, George realised he would not have been able to live much longer without-

Renn. George had avoided that name for so long. Those were the memories he had tried to leave behind the second he left on the journey towards the Nether Fortress. But of course, it was inevitable that they would resurface.

The smiling face of an innocent 14-year-old boy. The way his lips curled up whenever he found something funny but didn't want to admit it. He was only a child. He didn't deserve death.

_ Nobody deserves death, George. _

George shook the thought away from his head, too deep in thought to hear an approaching hiss. 

A flash of white light and noise. George hit the ground as the loud 'boom; reverberated around the air. He groaned - luckily his shield and armour had defended the worst of the blast, but he still felt a horrible pain on his forehead.

"Fuck..." George mumbled, head spinning as he tried to stand up straight. He stumbled forwards a bit, but after eating a bit of steak to heal the little damage he had gained he felt better. Not much better though. The cut on his forehead was bleeding, leaving it bleeding in a line down his face.

George didn't have enough time to care about the cut, he just wanted to get back. He was shaken up enough already.

Hopefully, sleep would solve the problem.

-

In a desolate-looking building, two people sat in a dark rook, the only thing being illuminated were countless monitors with dozens of live footage on each one.

"The game has become awfully quiet." sighed a man's voice, laced with boredom.

The second of the two looked up, a sadistic smile etched upon her pale face.

"Why don't we liven things up?"

It's about time the real fun begins.


End file.
